Much has been written about the recently announced Apple Watch and how it may affect the Swiss watch industry.

Members of the best known luxury Swiss watch brands have voiced their opinions with JC Biver, who heads up the brands Tag Heuer, Zenith, and Hublot, unabashedly saying to the press about the Apple Watch that "it looks like it was designed by a student in their first trimester". "It looks a little cold, and lacks, for my taste, a bit of personality" said Mr. Biver.

The media had mixed reviews and comments about the Apple Watch. James Buttery for WatchPro critically stated the following: "Sure it has a complete computer system hardwired into a single resin-coated module and inductive charging feature, but those alone are not likely to be selling points capable of turning the heads of customers not already inducted in the Apple mindset".

In July this year, the press reported that Apple nabbed away Patrick Pruniaux one of Tag Heuer's sales directors from Switzerland in order to launch Apple's then pending smartwatch. When JC Biver of Tag Heuer was asked about his employee leaving, he wished him well and commented "If it [Apple] had been a direct competitor I would have felt a bit betrayed".

LATEST MAJOR NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT FROM TAG HEUER

In an interview this week with a local Swiss newspaper, NZZ am Sonntag, Jean-Claude Biver confirmed plans to launch a smartwatch of its own.

"We want to launch a smartwatch at Tag Heuer, but it must not copy the Apple Watch. We cannot afford to just follow in somebody else's footsteps," he said. Tag Heuer will unveil its first smartwatch at the Baselworld 2015, which takes place in March. Biver also said that certain other companies which are part of the Swiss watch industry will be unveiling their own smartwatches at the Basel fair.

While mobile device makers are jumping on the wearable device bandwagon by launching smartwatches, a luxury watchmaker will certainly have an advantage over a phone company making a smartwatch.

I have faith and confidence that Tag Heuer won't disappoint those, like myself, who have appreciation for true horology. Though I'm a huge Apple fan, and knowing full well that Apple is a financial giant with proven success for marketing, I believe they don't truly understand the "watch business".

Apple will now be challenged by Tag Heuer whose parent company LVMH is a giant powerhouse in its own right. Though Apple's capitalization market is 10 times that of LVMH (600 Billion vs 60 Billion) it won't take "billions" to launch a personable smartwatch that will appeal to traditional watch buyers.

So, there's something exciting to look forward for 2015 as the Swiss make sure they won't be forgotten in this segment of the market.